14 June 2013

Summer Reads

Wow, it's Friday! That was fast.

I don't know about you, but one thing that I enjoy doing during the summer is catching up on my reading. With a bountiful surplus of daylight hours and pleasant weather to enjoy, picking up a book could never be more easy than in the summer. That being said, here is my list of Summer reads, including books that I have and have not yet read.

Summer Read (n): A piece of literature that is light in manner and easy to read without sacrificing quality of content.


Magical Thinking, Augusten Burroughs
Having recently read this, I can vouch that Augusten Burroughs' collection of true stories is honestly funny. From a too-short housemaid to a rodent in his tub, it's hard to read this without thinking that you don't seem so funny after all (in comparison). Burroughs' humor easily translates through his text and leaves a story much too funny to keep to yourself. [Goodreads]

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Mindy Kaling
If you're a fan of The Mindy Project, or of anything Mindy Kaling has touched, you're bound to be a fan of her memoir. While reading her stories, it's inevitable to hear her voice narrate her words. Kaling's writing is humorous, personal, and very relatable: qualities that make you want the book to continue. She recounts stories from her childhood while growing up in Boston as well as her climb to success as an Off-Broadway performer and playwright to a comedy writer who gets chauffeured rides to work in avoidance of the "Rape Train." [Goodreads]


 

The Art Forger, B.A. Shapiro
This mystery novel follows a struggling artist who is commissioned to reproduce one of the infamously stolen artworks from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist in 1990. Claire makes a living painting reproductions of famous artworks and begins to suspect that the prized Degas in her living room may be one too. This read details the romance between an artist and his work, as well as the struggles that they face. It's fact meet fiction: art history lesson meets mystery, but this is no art history lesson you've ever dozed through. [Goodreads]

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Therese Anne Fowler
Following the hype of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, Therese Anne Fowler paints the picture of the Fitzgerald couple from Zelda's eyes. From the first time they meet at a country club, to their wedding in St. Patrick's Cathedral, and to every new destination they set their hearts on, this is a story about being the golden couple without even trying. Jay Gatsby mirrors his maker like never before: Scott and Zelda are Jay and Daisy, and not even Jay's parties can last forever. [Goodreads]



Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game is easily the most under-appreciated book of our time. What was once the most popular read is now a long-forgotten science fiction that collects dust in the back of the library. With its silver screen counterpart coming out this November, I strongly urge you to read the novel first. You have plenty of time between now and November to enjoy this fantastic story set in space, and I can assure you: it's pretty damn good. Ender's Game follows Ender Wiggins, a brilliant young boy who is drafted to Battle School for military training in the war against the Buggers. Like Harry Potter, Ender is destined to end the existence of their enemies, but his loneliness and declaration as an outcast leaves him struggling to understand what he is expected to do. [Goodreads]


If none of these reads provoke any interest in you, then I suggest heading over to the beloved NYT Bestsellers List or the Guardian's List of 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. Both are fantastic resources for every reader and I have made it my mission to read a good chunk of that 1000 books. Otherwise, I do enjoy a good re-read of childhood classics, namely Harry Potter.

Please don't end up reading chick-lits and teen drama-romance novels. Please, I beg of you.

Happy Reading!

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